From police chief to escaped murderer: Timeline of Arkansas manhunt for Grant Hardin
He's been described as a "sociopath," and "evil" by those who have encountered him, but now Grant Hardin, the former police chief of a small Arkansas town who was imprisoned for murder and rape, is the subject of a massive manhunt since escaping from a correctional facility this week.
Hardin, 56, who was briefly police chief in the town of Gateway, near the Arkansas-Missouri border, simply walked out of a guarded gate at the North Central Unit in Calico Rock, Arkansas, on Sunday afternoon, according to a probable cause affidavit charging him with second-degree escape.
Hardin was dressed as a law enforcement officer pushing a loading cart in surveillance video that captured him absconding from the prison.
"Inmate Hardin impersonated a corrections officer in dress and manner, causing the corrections officer operating the gate to open the gate and allow inmate Hardin to walk away from the North Central Unit," according to the affidavit filed Tuesday in an Izard County court.
As police continue to scour the Ozark Mountains for the fugitive, here is a timeline of the violent crimes that got him sentenced to 80 years in prison -- and the brazen escape that has prompted national headlines:
Feb. 23, 2017 -- James Appleton, a 59-year-old water department worker for the city of Garfield, Arkansas, in Benton County, is shot in the head and killed by Hardin, prosecutors said. Appleton's body was moved to a car, where investigators found him.
October 2017 -- Hardin pleads guilty to murder after the fatal shooting of Appleton. He is sentenced to 30 years in prison. The former police chief never revealed a motive for killing Appleton.
Following Hardin's escape, former Benton County, Arkansas, prosecutor Nathan Smith, who helped put Hardin in prison, told ABC News' affiliate station KHBS in Fayetteville, Arkansas, that Hardin is a "sociopath." Smith added, "He's extremely dangerous. He's already proven that he has no moral core or center."
Amid the ongoing search for Hardin, Appleton's sister, Cheryl Tilman, now the mayor of Gateway, describes Hardin in an interview with KHBS as "an evil man."
Feb. 8, 2019 -- While serving his stentence for killing Appleton, Hardin pleads guilty to the 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher in her classroom in Rogers, Arkansas, authorities said. The Rogers Police Department linked Hardin to the rape by matching DNA found at the crime scene to a DNA sample Hardin submitted upon entering prison. He was sentenced to an additional 50 years.
May 2023 -- HBO Max releases the real-crime documentary "Devil in the Ozarks" that detailed the rape of the Rogers school teacher and two-decade investigation to bring the perpetrator to justice.
May 25, 2025 -- Arkansas Department of Corrections officials announce that Hardin escaped from the North Central Unit prison, while posing as a corrections officer. Surveillance video recorded Hardin at 2:50 p.m. local time pushing a loading cart and wearing what authorities initially described as the type of dark colored uniform worn by Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC) officers. He was waved through the sally port from which he escaped by a Corrections officer, authorities said.
Authorities said they now believe Hardin was not wearing an official uniform from the department of corrections, and it had to "have been homemade or brought in somehow."
May 26, 2025 -- The U.S. Marshals Eastern Arkansas Fugitive Task Force announces it is assisting the Izard County Sheriff's Office in the search for Hardin, as officers from multiple law enforcement agencies searched the North Central Unit facility looking for the fugitive. Officers are seen by an ABC News crew stopping and searching vehicles and going door-to-door in communities around the prison.
"An active search remains in effect involving a number of law enforcement agencies from across the state," an ADC spokesperson said.
May 28, 2025 -- The search for Hardin continues. During a news conference, officials said they "are confident he is still in the area" of the North Central Unit prison.
